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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268955">Running the Bases</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking'>starlightwalking</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the world as we know it [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(kind of? see story notes lmao), Accidental Incest, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Back to Middle-Earth Month, Disaster Gays, First Meetings, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Injury, M/M, Mental Health Issues</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:35:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,556</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268955</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Maedhros bumps into a stranger. Literally.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fingon | Findekáno/Maedhros | Maitimo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the world as we know it [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651942</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Back to Middle-earth Month 2020: Endings and Beginnings</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Running the Bases</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For B2MeM 3/15/20. Prompts were "Begin your story in the middle of an important scene and watch how it unfolds from there!" [Official Prompt], a character's education begins [Beginnings], and “I’ll be right over...” [Last Line].</p>
<p>This is how Mae and Finno meet in this College AU - and there will be a lot more of them to come, considering they're the reason I developed the AU, lol. I put "accidental incest" in the tags because like, technically? that's true? In this AU Feanor and Fingolfin are step-siblings, not half-siblings (I'll probably get into that in a later fic) and Fingon and Maedhros didn't really know each other growing up (see the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23226883">Nerdanel oneshot</a> in this series for details on that). They do, however, have the same last name, but since that last name is "Smith" that means practically nothing, lmao.</p>
<p>Finally, apologies for the terrible baseball metaphors. In my defense, Mae and Finno are walking disasters and they don't know what they're talking about also.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"It's really—" Maedhros hissed through his teeth as he tried to flex his fingers— "alright." <em>Fuck</em>, that hurt. Had he broken his wrist, or just sprained it?</p>
<p>"It is <em>not</em> alright!" the cute stranger exclaimed, tugging on one of his braids. "I'm <em>so</em> sorry, I really didn't mean to knock you over—"</p>
<p>"I know you didn't," Maedhros assured him. It was half his fault for being so distracted, anyway; he'd been staring at his phone, reading the eviction notice for the twentieth time in the hopes that it would miraculously have a different ending if he believed hard enough. And then when he <em>had</em> looked up, it had only been to see a handsome stranger running full-tilt toward him with panic in his eyes, and he'd gone into fight-or-flight mode except he'd frozen in between and been barrelled over by this guy, who was way more beautiful than he had any right to be, really, and now looked even more upset than he'd been already.</p>
<p>The stranger was close to tears as he helped Maedhros back to his feet, babbling apologies and looking like he could break down at any moment. Any anxiety Maedhros might have felt was dull and aching in the back of his mind just like everything was these days, and even the physical pain of his wrist (stupid of him to try and break his fall with his hands, really) seemed insignificant in the face of the overwhelming stress that radiated off his accidental attacker.</p>
<p>"That looks like it's swelling up," the stranger worried. "Oh god I can't believe I'm fucking up this much in one day—"</p>
<p>"Hey," Maedhros said, reaching out to rest his uninjured hand on the stranger's shoulder, "it's alright, really. It's cool. It happens."</p>
<p>The stranger flinched as Maedhros touched him, and immediately Maedhros drew back, cursing himself. Fuck, why had he done that? He of all people knew it was important to ask before doing something like that, why was he this fucking stupid—</p>
<p>"Do you—I can pay for medical bills, or something," the stranger continued, interrupting Maedhros' self-loathing. "It's fine, I can—this is all my fault—"</p>
<p>"Not your fault," Maedhros insisted, cutting him off. "Hey, uh, dude? Can you—breathe with me? Just for a sec?"</p>
<p>The stranger fell silent for a moment, staring at him blankly.</p>
<p>"I mean, that helps me calm down," Maedhros explained, conscious of just how fucking ridiculous he sounded, "and uh, I feel like that might help. Both of us. Yeah."</p>
<p>The stranger nodded. He breathed in deeply, and Maedhros did too. They let out the breath together, then repeated it a few more times before Maedhros sighed and prodded his injured hand again.</p>
<p><em>Fuck</em>, that hurt. Maybe it <em>was</em> broken.</p>
<p>"Thanks," the stranger said, his voice small. "Sorry for—freaking out. And everything."</p>
<p>The campus clock struck one across the main square, and the stranger jumped. He looked ready to bolt, but he wiped a tear from his eye and took another deep breath, flashing Maedhros a watery smile. "Guess I'm gonna be late for class. Some first day on campus, huh?" He paused. "Oh, shit. Are you gonna be late, too?"</p>
<p>"I was heading home," Maedhros said. "I'm done for the day." He reached down to grab the phone he had dropped and grunted as his injured wrist protested. He picked it up with his left hand, clumsily unlocking it. (The screen was the same as he'd left it, still informing him that he had 24 hours to leave his apartment. Fucking hell. That wouldn't be "home" for much longer.)</p>
<p>"I really am sorry," the stranger said, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. He looked as if he wasn't sure if he should run to his class or stay with Maedhros; for some goddamn reason that anxiety made him all the more adorable.</p>
<p><em>Keep it in your pants, Smith,</em> he told himself, disgusted that was all he could think about. But, well, even that was wishful thinking. Ever since his last boyfriend...</p>
<p>"It's fine," he said, not looking the stranger in the eye. "I'll deal. You said it was your first day, right? You should get to class. I'm not gonna hold it against the whole freshman class for what amounts to an extremely minor hit and run."</p>
<p>"I'm actually a transfer," the stranger said in a small voice. "I really should know better."</p>
<p>Maedhros blinked. He'd assumed the dude was a kid, fresh out of high school—he had that kind of baby face. But if he was a transfer, he was probably closer to Maedhros' own age.</p>
<p>"Okay," he heard himself saying, "sure, you should know to look where you're going and not run late on the first day of the quarter. But I can tell you're really stressed out and all, and believe me I've been there, still am in fact, that's what happens when you don't get accepted to the pre-med program until after your kid brother's already graduated and your shitty abusive boyfriend dumps you and you get evicted. But like, hey, that's the first time I've really thought about it since you broke my wrist, not that I'm sure it's broken yet, so at least that's something new?"</p>
<p>God, he was such a <em>fucking</em> disaster, unloading all this shit on the poor guy. But instead of scaring him off like Maedhros had assumed (intended?), a look of sympathy—no, empathy—appeared in the stranger's eyes.</p>
<p>"That sucks," he said. "And like, you said you've been there? Me too, most of it. That's why I transferred here, pretty much. Still not an excuse for not noticing a hot guy like you until I've already body-slammed you—" He broke off, dark skin flushing as he realized what he'd said. "Um. I mean. Fuck."</p>
<p>Maedhros laughed, long and hard. It had been a long time since someone had called him hot—he was, clearly, a fucking disaster of a person and that was <em>so</em> much more apparent since Mairon had dropped his ass. But this guy, this stranger, was so open and earnest about everything <em>including</em>, apparently, his thing for tall gingers who can't take care of themselves, and for some reason that was the most refreshing thing he'd heard in months.</p>
<p>"Look, buy me dinner first before you try to get kinky," he said, astonished he could joke about that so soon after Mairon had...done what he had. "Save the body-slams for like, third base."</p>
<p>"I don't even know your name," the stranger quipped. He blushed even more, seemingly just as surprised as Maedhros that they had fallen into flirting so easily. "I'm Fingon Smith, by the way."</p>
<p>Maedhros started. "Weird. My last name is also Smith." He might have had a cousin or something named Fingon, too, but well, it's not like that meant anything considering his dad refused to acknowledge any of his extended family (especially after his mom left) and Fingon was a pretty common first name, anyway, though not nearly as common as Smith was for a last name. Hell, he'd known three other Fingon Smiths in his life. "First name's Maedhros, though."</p>
<p>"Well, um." Fingon twirled one of his braids with his finger. "If you need like, to make an insurance claim or something, or if you're serious about me buying you dinner—"</p>
<p>"Yeah, put your number in my phone," Maedhros said, swiping away from the eviction notice email and to his contacts.</p>
<p>"I really had better head to class," Fingon said, looking apologetically at Maedhros' hand one last time. "Please, text me if you need to. Or want to. Or, um. God I'm a mess. You said you were getting evicted? I've got an empty room in my apartment if you want to, uh, crash for a bit, or something, really it's the least I can do—"</p>
<p>"Damn, you're trying for a home run already?" Maedhros joked, but it didn't really land for either of them. He didn't know if he'd be ready for that shit for a long, long time. Maybe never.</p>
<p>"Running the bases to make up for what happened last time," Fingon said with a half-hearted smile. "But really...I'm sorry for knocking you over and for being such a blabbering mess, and well, for everything. If I can make it up to you, I want to."</p>
<p>"Thanks, Fingon," Maedhros said. "I'll probably text you later, to let you know if this is really broken at least." He winced as he waved his wrist a bit—yeah, it definitely still hurt.</p>
<p>"Alright, take care," Fingon said, and this time he really did leave, heading toward his first class ten minutes late at a pace that was not the frantic run from before but was still quite brisk.</p>
<p>Maedhros watched him go, his head still spinning from that bizarre interaction. It felt like something momentous had just happened, and he looked at Fingon's contact info in his phone.</p>
<p>Impulse control was something he struggled with, these days. Which is why as soon as he got back to (soon-to-not-be-) his apartment, he texted Fingon right away:</p>
<p>
  <em>Hey, it's Maedhros, the guy you knocked over earlier. Were you serious about me crashing at your place for the night? Because my landlord's a dick, and if you meant it, I'll be right over...</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Maedhros' relationship with Mairon will definitely come up again (it was bad; I see him as <a href="https://lgbta.wikia.org/wiki/Caedsexual">caedsexual</a> from the trauma of it).<br/>For more on Maedhros' "kid brother" who graduated before him, check out the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23012167">Maglor oneshot</a> I've got in this verse :)</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and commenting!<br/>You can find me on tumblr <a href="http://arofili.tumblr.com/">@arofili</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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